Here is a great substitution for the Glute-Ham raise for those that don't have a GHD: http://www.asimba.com/fitness_info/exercise602.html (wfs) . I've heard them called "Russian Leans", but the site calls them "Russian Leg Curls." Personally, I find these to be more difficult than the Glute-Ham raise on a GHD.

My ghetto GHR...I've found this to be a lot more comfy on the knees than doing them on a pulldown machine of on an ab machine.

I do them with the aid of the of an incline bench that has a place to put rest your feet on off the ground while you are doing inclines, a 6" step up box, a foam ab mat and the stupid foam barbell pads that some people use during squats.

I load up 4 45lb weights on the seat of the incline bench so it doesn't tip. Put a foam pad around each of the things that you put your feet on (unless you are tough and you like knurling digging into the back of your ankle). Place the wooden box at a comfy position in front of the incline bench. Place the foam ab mat on top of the wooden box so it doesn't kill your knees. Hook your feet under the bars on the incline bench and start workin.

sorry if this makes no sense...I just finished squatting and feel like poo

My impression was that we didn't do the GHR more often (ever?) because it really requires a true GHD machine to do well (not the approximation you find at most gyms, or a Roman chair, or whatever). My gym has a variety of "hyperextension" machies, but none of them will let me do a GHR.

See the thing he has his feet up on? I put foam on each of those. I use the pads that people put around the middle of the barbell when they squat so it doesn't hurt their neck and wrap them around each of the places where he has his feet. Then I put a 6" box (like a step up box) in front of the bench. This is where my knees rest as I face away from the bench. My ankles are under the part where he has his feet. If you do not put 45lb plates on the seat of the incline bench then it will tip back due to the moment you produce when you go down.

I will try to take a picture. This is very solid and much more comfy than other ghetto GHR methods that I've tried

You can do GHR by having someone hold your ankle, or you can put your feet underneath a bed/barbell. Might not be as good as the $1000 machine, but still very useful for building posterior chain strength. It will definitely be challenging for most, and when it gets easy, you can always add a weighed vest.

From my understanding, Crossfit is somewhat about training universal motor recruitment patterns. Training the nervous system to perform general tasks at a higher level. Think about how difficult it is to find a sub for the GHR. When's the last time you actually did a movement which replicated the GHR? Probably the closest thing most of us do to a GHR in everyday life would be something to do with posterior chain useage, which is trained better in every way I can imagine by olympic lifting and gymnastics. It's my position that GHR would be both redundant and a relatively poor exercise choice for training posterior chain development, using the crossfit definition of fitness. They might make your hams and glutes more "developed" or "thicker" but that's not my priority.

I feel that if they belong anywhere in the crossfit paradigm, they belong somewhere in Coach Rippetoe's strength programs. Even then he'd probably tell you to just dead heavier or do some good mornings. Personally I don't do them outside of my warm up.

look at the position/angles/movement of the hips, knees, and ankles during a GH raise - especially after the back extension portion - and compare it to the positions/angles/movements of these joints during POSE running. i see a direct comparison, and while the GH raise obviously has the body moving around/against a stable object (as opposed to running through air), these motions are similar enough that i believe the GH raise is strengthening many of the same muscles and pathways.

Running is a posterior chain/triple extention/ core stability type of situation. The GHR involves all of these things except triple extention (hips, knees, ankles). It's not a BAD movement in my opinion, there are just other exercises which do the same things better. Like actually running, POSE drills, oly lifts or gymnastics.

You might want to look into Romanov's book on POSE and his DVD as well for some of his drills. They are really good stuff, and POSE instantly brought me from a 10:00 mile to a 7:00 literally overnight. That was a year ago. I'm not a huge fan of the GHR, but if you feel it helps you, do it. I can see it helping with deads for the total, that's about it.

i dont have access to a ghd machine, so i had to do it on a decline ab thing. i did read that link beforehand though, so im not sure what i could have been doing wrong.

From the article:

Quote:

To do a GHR, you'll start with your body in a horizontal position on the bench with your toes pushed into the toe plate. Your knees will be set two inches behind the pad and your back will be rounded with your chin tucked. You then push your knees into the pad and curl your body up with your hamstrings while keeping the back rounded. As you approach the top position, squeeze your glutes to finish in a vertical position.

Glute activation is key here. Sorry if in my previous post I sounded like a bit of an ***.